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December 1, 2006 > News > Job market improves for current senior class as more companies recruit at Rice

Job market improves for current senior class as more companies recruit at Rice

By Gary Johnson | For the Thresher

This year’s seniors have a better chance of landing a job than those from recent years, and their starting salaries are likely to be higher as well.

Career Services Assistant Director for Recruiting Patricia Payton said more companies are recruiting on campus this year due to an expanding job market.

“There are companies that have not recruited here at Rice for a number of years that are returning,” Payton said.

She said about 125 companies are recruiting on campus this year, up from about 100 companies last year. Companies have conducted 1,091 interviews on campus as of Tuesday.

Career Services Associate Director for Career Education Jackie Hing said more companies are learning about Rice — along with the job market — which partially explains the increase in recruiting on campus. At this year’s Career Fair, held in September, more companies attended than in any year since 2000.

Payton said many job offers come from oil and gas, energy, consulting, technical and nonprofit companies. In addition to hiring science and engineering majors, energy and technical companies are hiring liberal arts graduates to fill analyst and technical writing positions.

Hing said it is not unusual for companies in the same industry to compete for students.

Payton said many graduating seniors have been offered salaries that are, on average, $3,000-5,000 higher than offers last year.

Hing said a typical career path for many students is to work for two or three years and then go to graduate school. She said many pursue an M.B.A. or a law degree. While the job market affects on-campus recruiting for employment, the number of students going directly to graduate school remains at about 40 percent.

“The percentage of students going to graduate school has remained consistent whether it is a bad job market or a good one,” Hing said.

In the class of 2006, 51 percent of bachelor’s degree recipients said they would immediately take a job, and 41 percent said they would immediately enter a graduate or professional school.

Brown College senior Tommy Jackson, who plans to apply for entry into the University of Texas Law School next fall, said many students are stressed out about finding jobs.

“Everyone is having to crunch to find a job and maintain grades,” Jackson said.

Sid Richardson College senior John Horstman has already signed with Wachovia, an investment banking company, and said many other students seem to have jobs lined up as well.

“I felt like there were a lot of opportunities for Rice students,” Horstman said.

Career Adviser Megan Scarborough, a Brown sophomore, said many science and engineering majors already have jobs because oil and gas companies sign new hires early.

Jackson said seniors are more worried about balancing job searches with schoolwork than the offers alone because the combination of searching for a job and homework is so time-consuming. Many students will not give up on their job search but will settle for a lower offer or the first thing that comes around, he said.

Career Adviser Sabina Bharwani, who is applying for entry into the master’s of public policy programs at Harvard and Columbia, said many seniors want to have fun and graduate, but the combination of applications, interviews and recommendation requests is as tough as taking another class.

“A lot of people are asking themselves ‘What can I do with my major?’” Bharwani, a Will Rice College senior, said. “It is more important to look for what you really want to do… instead of getting a job with the highest pay.”

Payton said there are still opportunities for full time work with companies recruiting on campus in the spring.

“For seniors who are still looking, there are still a lot of jobs out there,” Payton said.

Hing said students looking for a job should be confident about what they are looking for and should try to gain experience in possible career fields before senior year.

“The sooner students can get introduced to Career Services and all that we have to offer and meet the staff, [the more confident] they can approach their senior year of job searching,” Hing said.

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